Holiday Season

Common Wish List.

·        I pad 

·        I pod touch

·        3 DS

·        Wii

·        I phone

·        New game CDs.

I am sure we all had our share of wish list already. Here comes the holiday season with feelings of family fun time with anxiety of not being able to fulfill our child’s every wish.  If we are unable to fulfill, we can get a probation time till their birthday!

We surely are not the only parents with this emotional turmoil. Now my question or concern is that, “Do our children value money?” Apparently they don’t. I would like to cite an example here. My then 7 year old daughter had big gimmes at shopping time. Mommy please buy this, it is just $ 20! Now that $20 is not just. Words were not enough to explain her the situation. One day she saw a flyer at home regarding newspaper career wanted in our area. She took my permission and called the office. They were kind enough to give her that job provided I went with her(Well of course). It was fall when she took the job. Each day was hard as it rained heavily and snowed at times. She did that job for 3 months and bought a 3DS with her own money. We were very proud of her and she realized the importance and value of money.  So my concern is,  If they continue to grow being ungrateful, would they be able to make themselves lead a happy life?

When we point a finger towards anyone, three fingers are towards us. I believe same thing applies in this case too. The bigger share of blame goes on the part of us parent community. Technological advancement is so rapid, that we ourselves are sometimes put in dilemma. We need to ask ourselves, “Do I spend a quality time daily with my child?” and Is providing money and latest gadgets going to make  my child a better human being? Some families have a routine of talking with children at dinner table. For me, I feel comfortable when I go in her room to do some casual chit chats or when we are doing some fun activities together . I am sure all children adore that quality time .

Everything in moderation is good. Our teens and youths are so addict to the technology . We also see a lot of examples of cyber bullying etc. In this case, are they making correct use of the technology? At what level do we need to interfere as parents or teachers or guardians? We recently had a teen committing suicide due to cyber bullying. I believe that if we take a lesson from that very unfortunate case, we might be able to help other children. That says we need to bridge the gap between our children and us.

Now technology in itself is excellent. Just like medicine or healthy food. I personally like electronic gadgets too. I love to chat all day with my friends and family. Watching TV and looking to buy things online etc. For children there are some excellent apps and some excellent websites good for their development. Some standalone games like v-smile etc. are really educative too. Now it is at our discretion to decide timings for our children. 

I would like to conclude here. Technology is for our betterment, provided we use it efficiently. I believe it’s time for us to revise our child development practices.  We have to have a vigil over our lifestyles as well, to make sure we raise versatile and grateful children. We should have a parent vs technology time ratio pre-determined for our children from now on. What say ya?